He doesn’t meet my eyes. “I get it. Yeah. Sorry. I got nothing for you, Inspector.”
Maybe I’m the one with the problem, but everything about this feels wrong. “I’m writing it up.”
“Whatever you gotta do.”
My good mood is gone, swept away by Gary, Jack, and the mysterious Montey Series. Having been dismissed, I climb the stairs to the Empire Room, and I see Paul standing by a table at the other end of the space. He offers a half-hearted wave, then Gary barges into the room behind me and goes directly to Paul, avoiding me. I don’t think he likes me, and I wonder if he is telling Paul about my prodding into that supply room. I’m annoyed at being scolded, but I don’t feel like fighting right now. My mind is focused on my lunch with Mr. Buchanan. I can hardly wait.
“Is this the outlet I’m here to inspect?” I call across to Gary. “The clicking?”
He nods, then turns back to his work, and I pull a screwdriver from my bag. It’s a GFCI outlet, which stands forground fault circuit interrupter. These things became mandatory back in ’71, to protect against fire and electrocution. If the outlet detects a ground fault in the flow of current, it automatically clicks once and cuts the power. It’s a little spring. In cases like this, where the spring keeps clicking and clicking, the outlet is burned out or malfunctioning. I’m surprised the hotel included this simple problem on my list. A couple hundred bucks for his time, and an electrician could fix it right up.
“Hey, there,” Paul says, approaching with a nervous smile. I get the feeling—again—that something’s being kept from me.
“Hi, Paul. Why’d you guys call me in for this? Seems weird.”
“It was a new part, so I guess they were wondering if it might be something else. New supplier, you know?”
“Nope. Just a regular GFCI misfiring.” Seeing an opportunity to find out more, I squint into the outlet, then pull out a broken piece. “MSI. Huh. I don’t suppose that would be Montey Series Industries, would it?”
He’s watching me closely, like he did when we discussed ghosts. I stare back at him.
“What?”
He hesitates, so I very quietly ask, “Is there something I should know?”
“These Montey parts are crap,” he whispers. He glances at Gary, who is busy elsewhere, then back at me. “All you gotta do is touch them and they break.”
I keep my voice low. “Then what are we doing with them?”
His face changes suddenly, and he turns his head slightly. “Yeah. I thought so, too, yeah,” he announces, loud enough for Gary to hear. “We’ll just call Jay, the electrician. No problem.” Then he whispers, “It’s not up to me. I did ask, but nobody wanted to tell me nothing. I’m close to retirement, and I need my pension, you know? I don’t want to get in trouble, so I just do as I’m told. I just thought you should know. Somebody should fix this before anyone gets hurt.”
“Who’s approving this?”
“I can try to get you copies of a few orders, but the thing is…” He winces. “Don’t ever tell anybody I told you this. I mean it.”
“Okay. What?”
“You’ll recognize one of the signatures on the orders. It’s your boss.”
“What?” I hear my shock echo around the room and drop my voice immediately. “Sorry. Can I see those? I need to speak with Claudia and find out what’s going on.”
“I’ll try to get copies. Best I can do. But don’t mention me to nobody. Promise.”
I’m thrown by his obvious fear.
“I promise. Who’s behind this Montey company?”
“I don’t know. It’s all real quiet. Gary’s afraid to say anything about it. Guess we all are.”
“What about Jack Samson? Can we ask him?”
He shakes his head slowly. “Jack knows a lot of things, but I ain’t gonna ask him about this. You shouldn’t, either, unless you got an escape plan.”
“Oh, come on.” I laugh. “Jack’s no big deal.”
“Maybe not, but whoever he works for is, and I’m not talking about the hotel.” He rubs his brow hard. “I probably shouldn’t have told you any of this, Miss Kelly. Forget I told you. If you get into it, you’ll be digging into some dangerous dirt.”
He turns away when Gary calls him, and I leave the room feeling dizzy. What I need is food, to stabilize myself. I make my way to Reign and the reservation I’d made yesterday. Despite my eagerness to see Mr. Buchanan, I can’t get Paul’s words out of my head.
